


We Get Wildfires In LA Too

by Soph_Writes_118



Series: Wildfires Happen in Texas and LA [2]
Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Developing Relationship, Falling In Love, Firehouse 118 Crew as Family (9-1-1 TV), Firehouse 118 Family Feels (9-1-1 TV), First Time, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, Love Confessions, M/M, Sleeping Together, Supportive Firehouse 118 Crew (9-1-1 TV)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-21
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-03-18 23:53:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,404
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29617380
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Soph_Writes_118/pseuds/Soph_Writes_118
Summary: * EPILOGUE TO WHAT HAPPENS IN TEXAS *The 118 and the 126 went line dancing in Texas. Buck and Eddie kissed (a lot), then freaked out about it (a lot). This epilogue picks up the story back in LA.
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley & Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV), Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV)
Series: Wildfires Happen in Texas and LA [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2175999
Comments: 26
Kudos: 277





	We Get Wildfires In LA Too

**Author's Note:**

> It’s here and it’s ridiculously long, but I hope it helps resolve the angsty cliffhanger we finished What Happens in Texas on...

_Text conversation from Chimney Han to Henrietta Wilson_

**Chimney Han:** I have 🚨 NEWS 🚨

 **Hen Wilson:** ???

 **Chimney Han:** So Albert overheard something interesting in Buck’s loft the other night…

 **Hen Wilson:** Do I really want to know where this is going...? 🤦‍♀️

 **Chimney Han:** The mind’s always in the gutter with you, isn’t it?

That was NOT what I meant

He heard Buck talking to his therapist

 **Hen Wilson:** Eavesdropped, you mean 👂

You Han boys are as bad as each other!

 **Chimney Han:** No comment 🤐

To be fair, Albert’s not as bad as me

He only told me this because I was trashing him at basketball 🏀

When I pointed out that I was trashing him...

 **Hen Wilson:** You mean when you were being smug about it… ⛹️‍♂️

 **Chimney Han:** I’m gonna take the high road and ignore that

Albert said he was tired because Buck had kept him awake the night before talking to Dr Copeland

And I kind of tricked him into telling me what he heard 🙊

 **Hen Wilson:** You are a terrible person 🤦‍♀️

 **Chimney Han:** You don’t have enough evidence to support that theory in a court of law

Don’t you wanna know what he said?

 **Hen Wilson:** As if I have a choice at this point…

 **Chimney Han:** Buck told Dr Copeland that he and Eddie kissed in Texas. He told her he’s in love with Eddie. And he told her that he freaked out and pushed Eddie away, because he thinks he’s too much of a mess to be with someone like Eddie, who deserves someone perfect who has their shit together

Think he might have paraphrased the last one. I don’t think you’re allowed to swear at your therapist

 **Hen Wilson:** Was Albert lying under Buck’s bed taking NOTES?!

 **Chimney Han:** What can I say? Kid’s got a good ear for gossip

 **Hen Wilson:** It runs in the family… 🙄

*Sigh* I KNEW something happened that night at the bar…

 **Chimney Han:** And _I_ KNEW that wasn’t just a bit of mud or engine oil on Buck’s neck the other day! Eddie gave him a hickey! 👨‍❤️‍💋‍👨

 **Hen Wilson:** **🙄** Nancy Drew has nothing on you, does she?

Are you watching Buck in the showers AND getting your little brother to spy on him? You sure you’re not having a baby with the wrong Buckley? 🧐

 **Chimney Han:** Ha. Ha. Funny. Not 😒

 **Hen Wilson:** So what is it? You want to get in your future brother-in-law’s good books by getting him laid?

 **Chimney Han:** Whoa, no one mentioned future brothers-in-law!

 **Hen Wilson:** Chim

Doesn’t matter if she goes by her married name now or not, you are having a baby with Maddie BUCKLEY

Buck is going to be the uncle of your child

You ARE gonna end up marrying Maddie one day

And Buck’s gonna be your actual brother…

 **Chimney Han:** There’s a reason no one liked Nostradamus you know…

 **Hen Wilson:** Is that a Buck Fact? You know, your future brother-in-law?

 **Chimney Han:** 😒

 _Anyway_ , what should we do with this information?

 **Hen Wilson:** _You_ should start your own gossip column...US Weekly has been waiting for someone like you for years...📰

 _We_ do _nothing_. Buck told his therapist in confidence, and that confidential information has now been shared with you, me and Albert

 **Chimney Han:** We can’t just sit back and let them carry on moping like this. You remember how bad that last shift got?

 **Hen Wilson:** What, the hours of mutual pining and longing looks when they thought the other one wasn’t looking before we cracked and went to clean the ambulance at 3am just to have an excuse to leave?

How could I forget?

That was a long 24 hour shift…

 **Chimney Han:** Exactly. They just need to talk this out. Or do something else to work it out… 👀

I am not above locking them in a storage cupboard to achieve this

Just call me Cupid 💘

 **Hen Wilson:** We are not helping them to have sex in the storage cupboard at work

If he found out we’d set it up, Bobby would make us clean that cupboard with a toothbrush and no gloves, and we do not need that kind of mental scarring 🤢

And haven’t you done enough meddling in Buck’s life already? 🤨

 **Chimney Han:** Hey, I did not ask to be caught up in the Buckley Family Secret **™!**

 **Hen Wilson:** Yes, and you did yourself proud by actually keeping it, despite yourself. Let’s not ruin it now by getting involved in his love life

 **Chimney Han:** But they could be so happy if they just got over themselves and TALKED TO EACH OTHER about their feelings!

 **Hen Wilson:** I know Chim. But it’s not our place to make it happen 😔

 **Chimney Han:** I hate when you’re right. It’s no fun.

*

It was just over a week since Buck, Hen and Eddie had returned to LA, and for the first time Buck had a night alone to himself. Albert was out for the evening, and normally Buck would have enjoyed having some space to think, but now the apartment felt cold and empty. Everywhere he looked reminded him of Eddie.

This would have been the case anyway – Christopher and Eddie were so linked to this apartment in Buck’s mind that almost every corner held memories of them together there – but the associations were even stronger now, after three months of Eddie living with him during the first phase of quarantine. When the whole world seemed to be panicking and changing around them, Buck had found solace in spending every hour in Eddie’s company. They drove to work together, spent the entirety of their shift at each other’s sides, and then returned to this apartment together to decompress and unwind.

With Hen and Chimney crammed in too, it would have been easy for Buck to lose his mind at the claustrophobic nature of their 24 hour relationship. But, as always, Eddie’s presence grounded him. He was clearly worried about the state of the world and struggling with being apart from Christopher, but he managed to find time to ease the burden on Buck, to make sure he knew they appreciated him letting them stay all this time, and that they shared chores and gave each other space when it was needed. He even included Buck on his daily FaceTime calls to Christopher, and they quickly became a highlight of Buck’s day. He made sure not to intrude too much on Eddie’s time with Christopher, but he always brought a new fact or a story from their day to every conversation so he had something to share with Christopher. Every now and then Chris even asked Buck to read him a bedtime story, which made Buck’s heart sing. He and Eddie kept a stack of books under Buck’s bed for that specific purpose, and Eddie kept the laptop balanced on his legs as Buck read aloud to Christopher, feeling Eddie’s eyes on him and unable to hold back a smile at being with his two favourite people in the world, even if one of them was at a distance.

Buck had secretly cherished the time they spent confined together, and even more secretly mourned the day it was safe enough for Eddie to move home to be with Christopher. Those months with so much enforced time together could have driven a wedge into their friendship. But they’d come out of it even stronger, and what with his therapy sessions helping to unravel and understand some of his long-held issues and insecurities, Buck finally felt that he was on the road to a better place.

And then they went to Texas.

Buck could almost have convinced himself that he’d imagined that night under the stars in Austin, were it not for the faint bruise Eddie’s mouth had left on his neck. Catching sight of it in the mirror a few days later had filled him with a rush of shock and pride. He stared at it for far longer than was necessary, tracing its edges lightly with a fingertip and allowing himself to remember every touch of Eddie’s lips on his skin. He’d tried to cover it with the collar of his work shirt, but Chimney’s eyes had practically popped out of his head when he clocked it in the locker rooms at the end of a shift. Buck had flushed red and muttered something about mud or engine oil, then disappeared into the showers before his eyes betrayed him and traced the bruise back to the man who gave it to him.

He would actually be sad to see the hickey fade. Right now it felt like that mark was the only thing still connecting him to Eddie, who had carefully avoided invading Buck’s personal space ever since they left Texas. The loss of all those moments when they’d casually bump shoulders or hip check each other throughout the working day left a physical ache in Buck’s chest. Eddie was his anchor. Even on the toughest calls, where the images they’d seen felt burned into his brain and the screams and sobs of victims and loved ones would be the soundtrack he woke to the following morning, one gentle nudge from Eddie would ground Buck and bring him back to himself. The loss of that was almost worse than the stilted, polite conversation they had replaced it with, friendship operating under a layer of awkwardness.

Sometimes Buck was sure he could feel Eddie’s eyes on him, across the loft, in the back of the fire truck or at a scene. It was a skill he’d honed at some point in the past two years, a kind of telepathy that he’d never known with anyone else. The rest of the crew had joked before that they could practically read each other’s minds, and Buck had privately agreed, because he didn’t feel like he knew anyone in this world as well as he knew Eddie, not even Maddie or Christopher. But since that night at the bar, trying to tap into it was like trying to see through a thick fog. He couldn’t get a read on Eddie anymore, and for the first time since he came to LA and found his place in the world with the 118, he felt unmoored.

Buck’s phone buzzed on the counter, bringing him back to the present. His stomach turned over as the screen lit up with the caller ID.

_Casa Diaz_

Eddie had laughed when he saved their landline number under that name, around about the time they traded spare keys.

“ _I’ll have you know I’m practising my Spanish so I can impress your abuela next time I’m at a Diaz Family BBQ. I know she hasn’t even told your sisters what it is, but I’m hoping she might teach me her homemade salsa recipe if I can ask her for it en Español.”_

“ _You impressed_ _my_ _abuela the first day you met her, she_ _won’t_ _take much persuading._ _Just flash her that smile you use on Christopher and she’ll hand you over every secret family recipe we have.”_

His laughter still echoed in Buck’s ears as he fumbled the phone in his haste to answer. He never knew how much he loved the sound of Eddie’s laugh before it stopped.

“Hello?”

“Buck?”

Christopher. Buck’s nerves briefly subsided, then returned at full force on a different track.

“Chris? What’s up, are you OK? Are you sick? Is it your dad – is he hurt?”

Buck’s words ran together in his panic, but Christopher was calm as he replied.

“No, we’re not sick.”

“OK...I’m glad to hear that,” Buck said carefully, confused. “So what’s up then, buddy?”

“I have a Buck Question.”

Ah.

Eddie came up with the idea for Buck Questions.

“ _Why is Christopher asking me something called ‘Buck Questions’ now?”_

_“Because sometimes – a lot of the time – he has questions that I just don’t know the answer to, but I know you will. Or I know you’ll enjoy answering them more than I will, because your brains work the same way. So I tell him to write them down so he remembers to ask you the next time he sees you. It doesn’t bother you, does it?”_

“ _No. I love it.”_

“Sure buddy, I’ve missed our Buck Questions. What is it?”

“Why don’t you come over anymore, Buck?”

Oh.

“Umm...”

Buck stalled and Christopher ploughed on in the silence that followed.

“Dad’s sad, he misses you.”

Hope flared in Buck’s chest, and he gripped the phone a little bit tighter.

“He...he said that?”

“No, but I can tell,” Chris proclaimed confidently. “His eyes are sad again. He hasn’t been sad like that since my mom died. And he’s been sad since you got back from Texas, so I think it’s because he’s not seeing you anymore.”

Urgh. Sucker punch to the heart right there.

“He sees me every day at work, buddy, I’m sure that’s not it,” Buck said, with false bravado.

“ _I_ miss you, Buck.”

Buck grimaced and massaged his forehead with his knuckles, trying to stave off the headache threatening. How had he managed to mess things up so badly in Texas? He’d thought he was doing the right thing, however dumb the execution. But it seemed like no one had come out of this the winner. And now it was impacting on Christopher too.

“I miss you too, Superman.”

“He’s never sad when you’re here. You have to come round and make Dad happy again, Buck.”

Buck was actually fairly sure his presence would have the opposite effect on Eddie, but he decided against sharing that with Chris. He forced down the lump in his throat.

“I miss him too, kid.”

“Chris?”

Buck’s stomach turned over as he heard Eddie’s voice and footsteps in the background as he came into the room.

“Who are you talking too?”

“Buck.”

Buck could almost see Eddie stop dead on his way to intercept the phone, feel his uncertainty radiating down the line.

“Oh. OK,” Eddie said quietly, after a brief pause. “Well, not too long, buddy, you’ve got school in the morning and Buck might be busy, we don’t want to interrupt his evening.”

“No!” Buck called down the phone, then realised Eddie wouldn’t be able to hear him. “Chris, can you put your dad on?”

“He wants to speak to you,” he heard Christopher say.

“Go clean your teeth and get ready for bed,” Eddie told him, and Buck heard the receiver handed over and Christopher shuffle from the room. Buck waited, unaware he was holding his breath until he heard Eddie exhale at the other end of the line and realised he’d been doing the same thing.

“Hey, Buck.”

“Hey, Eddie.”

“I’m sorry if Chris has been bothering you. I told him that having your number on speed dial was for emergencies only.”

“No, he’s not bothering me. It was great to talk to him. I miss him.”

Buck bit his lip, waiting for Eddie to tell him that it was only his own fault that he couldn’t see Chris, that he had been the one to mess this all up. But he didn’t.

“He misses you too.”

Eddie paused, then continued in a rush. “We both do. House doesn’t feel the same without you.”

Buck’s fingers pressed down so tightly on the kitchen counter that his fingertips turned white.

“Eddie, I...”

“Look, Buck, I overstepped that night in Texas, and I get if you don’t want to see me anymore, but please don’t stop seeing Christopher. You’re good for each other. I can arrange for the two of you to hang out without me, just let me know when you’re free.”

“Eddie...”

Buck was on his feet, striding across the apartment, fumbling in his jacket pocket for his car keys. He’d spent the last week thinking almost non-stop about this, talking through what had happened with Dr Copeland. Maybe once he was face to face with Eddie, he would be able to find the words and explain why he’d freaked out that night. He had to try. They couldn’t go on like this.

“Dad!”

Chris’s urgent voice sounded in the distance.

“I’ve gotta go, Buck, I’ll see you at work tomorrow.”

Eddie hung up, and Buck closed his eyes. What was he thinking, charging over there? Eddie had so much going on already. He was a single dad with a full-time job, and Buck going over there late at night on a whim to offload his problems and baggage wouldn’t exactly help.

With a sigh, Buck replaced his jacket on the hook, and slowly ascended the stairs to bed, hoping that the oblivion of sleep might ease the pang of longing in his chest.

*

It was common knowledge that the abandoned warehouse on West Washington Boulevard in Pico Union had long been a refuge for the homeless community in LA. Which is why the LAPD were confident that the torching of the building was an arson before they even reached the scene.

“This place should have been knocked down years ago,” Hen said, watching the flames leap higher as the 118 jumped down from their vehicles. “I don’t like the look of this.”

“OK, listen up,” Bobby called. “Incident Commander thinks we’re all out of survivors now. There will be bodies remaining, but it’s not our job to recover them. Our job is to fight the fire only.”

He looked at each of them in turn.

“Buck and Chim, take the Bravo side of the building. Hen and Eddie, take the Charlie side. Relieve the units there, and stay in post until you are relieved to refill your hoses or you receive radio instruction from me.”

It should have just been a straightforward fire. That’s what Eddie would tell himself later.

But now he just nodded and followed orders, glancing once after Buck as he and Chim took off for their side of the building, then snapping into focus and following Hen to their posting. They worked until they were relieved an hour or so later, as Bobby had instructed, but as they rounded the corner of the building to return to their vehicles to refill the hoses, they only saw Bobby waiting for them.

“Buck and Chim should be back by now,” Hen frowned.

“Cap!”

As if Hen’s thoughts had summoned him, Chim appeared, running flat out from the other side of the building.

“Buck’s inside,” he shouted as he reached them, leaning forward with his hands on his knees, breathing hard from sprinting in full gear. “He saw movement inside, so we tried to get through the flames, but we got separated. He couldn’t get back through the fire.”

Icy dread washed through Eddie.

“Buck.”

He didn’t shout it, but he didn’t need to. They all heard the desperation in that one syllable. And they all knew what he was about to do it a split second before he did it.

As one, Bobby, Chim and Hen threw themselves at Eddie and formed a barricade between him and the burning building. Hen and Chimney grabbed an arm each and Bobby braced his palms against Eddie’s chest.

“Let go of me.”

“Eddie, I am not letting you in there,” Bobby said firmly. “It’s too dangerous.”

They let him go and Eddie appealed to Bobby again, calmer but with no less desperation in his voice.

“It’s _Buck_. We can’t leave him.”

“I know,” his captain replied calmly. “And we won’t, but we need to think this through, not go running in without a plan.”

“Then we make a plan,” Eddie said firmly.

“You’re too close to this. Stay out here.”

“Cap?”

Bobby regarded him closely, and didn’t pull his punches when he spoke again.

“Eddie, we all know how you feel about Buck.”

It was like an earthquake had rippled through the parking lot. Eddie held himself very still, barely trusting himself to breathe, let alone trust his legs to hold him up on this newest dose of adrenaline. He’d been so oblivious to his own feelings for such a long time that it never really occurred to him to wonder if they were obvious to other people. He was suddenly very aware of his team’s eyes on him, scrutinising his response, and he had never been so glad that the Army had drilled a lack of emotional response into him. He’d felt vulnerable before; under fire in Afghanistan, on challenging calls where the odds seemed stacked against them, when Shannon died and he was left to navigate parenting alone for good. But being called out on his feelings in front of his friends and colleagues was a whole new level of vulnerability that he felt completely unprepared for.

“Now I don’t know what happened between the two of you in Texas, but it’s thrown your judgement,” Bobby continued. “I knew this day would come sooner or later, but the fact is that I can’t trust you to stay calm in there and not go running off on your own. Our window is getting narrower with every second that passes. If we get separated inside, we will lose someone. And I am not willing to take that risk.”

Eddie stared at him, jaw working, still feeling their gazes burn into him like spotlights. He managed a nod, but even that was an effort when his whole body was locked tightly in place, like a statue.

“Stay out here. That is _an order_ , Eddie.”

Eddie had never felt so helpless as he did watching his team marching back into the inferno to search for Buck while he waited outside alone. He stood rooted in place, maintaining the straight-backed soldier’s pose, even as it felt like his body was collapsing in on itself. A chill was spreading through his blood, despite the heat, and his fingers drummed a desperate rhythm on his thigh as he waited, a lone sentinel at the gates of Hell.

“Eddie?”

Athena appeared at his side, frowning up at him.

“Where are the others?”

Realisation dawned on Athena’s face before he even answered, but Eddie still managed to force the words out, each one an effort for his constricted throat and tightening jaw to form.

“Inside. Looking for Buck. Cap wouldn’t let me go with them.”

Every fibre of his being ached to be inside that blazing building, when mentally he already was, searching every inch of it for Buck. Knowing that Buck was trapped inside and he was standing outside, whole and safe, seemed like a huge injustice, twisting the familiar knife of guilt tight in his back. The only thing stopping him from disobeying a direct order was the fear of putting the rest of his crew in danger.

A hand landed on his arm. Startled, Eddie glanced sideways at Athena. Without saying a word, she squeezed his arm once in solidarity and let go, turning her gaze back to the fire. Athena’s expression was grim, but her demeanour calm, and it was only when he looked into her eyes that Eddie saw the same fear and dread he felt coiling through his stomach now. For the first time, Eddie recognised in her a kindred spirit.

First responders were used to the odds being stacked against them, had hardened themselves to the dangers and darkness of the world. But for all the horrors firefighters saw, they were a step removed from the police, who faced life and death on a daily basis. Just like a soldier.

He and Athena were cut from the same cloth. They were both raised to be warriors. Trained not to show fear or despair, even in the darkest of times. Taught to never give up. Conditioned to be the first ones through the door, to walk towards the danger that others would run from. And now they were both on the outside, looking in.

“Does it ever get easier?” he asked, forcing the words out past the constriction in his throat.

“To watch the man you love walk into the flames, not knowing if he’ll walk back out?”

Eddie nodded once, shortly, staring hard at the fire so he wouldn’t have to meet her gaze. He knew when he asked the question that Athena would interpret it correctly. Just a few weeks ago the thought of exposing his feelings so obviously and openly would have terrified him. But he couldn’t feel any more vulnerable than he did right now. With Buck trapped inside that building and Bobby’s dressing down in front of Hen and Chimney, his heart was as good as ripped from his chest and tossed into the inferno anyway. There was no space left now to be afraid of admitting what he’d known but refused to see for so long.

“No. It never gets easier,” Athena replied quietly.

Eddie took a breath.

“How do you cope?” he asked. Athena considered his question for a moment, fingers absently twisting her wedding band around her finger.

“We do the same thing. Neither of us know when we walk out the door in the morning if we’ll walk back through it at night. And we never make promises we can’t keep. But I would do my damnedest to get back to Bobby at the end of every day, and I know he’d do the same for me.”

Movement from the far corner of the building drew their attention, and Athena tensed as two firefighters emerged from the smoke.

“It’s Hen and Chimney,” Eddie said, already moving towards them. Hen was supporting Chimney, who slumped limply against her.

“What happened?” Eddie asked, slinging Chimney’s other arm around his shoulders and helping Hen carry him back to the ambulance.

“Falling beam hit him,” Hen gasped through her respirator. “He’s out cold but I think he’ll be OK. The whole place is unstable, it’s gonna come down any minute.”  
“Where’s Bobby?” Athena asked. Hen’s gaze flicked between Athena and Eddie, weighing up which one of them would take the news better.

“He told us to leave. He’s still in there searching for Buck.”

With a creak and a groan, the building started to give way in the corner Hen and Chimney had just escaped from. Eddie and Athena exchanged worried looks.

“What now?” Eddie asked.

“Now we wait, and pray to whoever you hope is listening.”

“I’m not very good at waiting,” Eddie admitted.

“Neither am I.” Athena glanced over her shoulder at Hen. “But I think you could make yourself useful on that ambulance while we have no choice.”

Eddie nodded, and slipped into the welcome numbness of medic mode, helping Hen triage Chimney and check him over. And if his hands shook once or twice with repressed emotion, Hen was good enough not to say.

“Eddie.”

Athena’s urgent voice brought Eddie’s thoughts back to the present, and he jumped out of the ambulance after her. Two more figures had emerged on the opposite side of the building. The shorter figure was supporting the taller one, who wasn’t wearing a helmet or respirator, and whose feet dragged as he stumbled out of the building. Eddie recognised the grime-streaked face and soot-stained blonde-brown hair even from this distance, and took off at a sprint. He felt rather than saw Athena do the same, tearing across the ground that separated them from the men they loved.

“Buck! Cap!”

Eddie stumbled to a stop in front of them as Buck’s legs gave way and he dropped from Bobby’s grasp. Eddie lunged forward and caught him before his knees hit the ground, and Athena threw an arm around Bobby.

“Buck, can you hear me? Open your eyes, Buck, look at me.”

Buck’s head lolled to one side, his eyes half-open but unseeing. Eddie swore, and ducked his head, swinging Buck over his shoulders before rising to his feet and taking off towards the ambulance at a run, carrying Buck across his back.

“What happened in there?” Athena asked Bobby as they followed them across the parking lot away from the flames.

“We were too late to save anyone else. Found a couple of bodies, they were dead before we got there.”

“Is Buck OK?”

Bobby’s face was grim as he answered.

“Smoke inhalation. His oxygen tank was compromised so he had to take it off. Not sure how long he’d had it off for by the time I found him.”

*

“Hey Maddie. Hope I’m not interrupting your evening?”

“Not at all. I’m guessing you called to check in on Buck?”

Eddie winced.

“That obvious?”

Maddie laughed.

“We barely text, Eddie, let alone talk on the phone. It wasn’t hard to work out why you were really calling.”

Eddie had wanted to go with Buck to hospital, was close to insisting on it, but Bobby told him firmly that he was to go home to Christopher, and Maddie and Albert had charged into action looking after Chimney and Buck. So he’d followed his captain’s orders, but his mind was at the hospital even if his body wasn’t. He burnt dinner and smashed a plate because he wasn’t looking where he put it when he was washing up, and kept his phone and the landline within reach at all times in case anyone tried to contact him with news. When no one did, he finally broke and texted Hen. She’d heard from Chim, who was discharged and heading back to his apartment with Buck, Maddie and Albert for a late dinner. Eddie waited another forty minutes before he finally called Maddie, too desperate for information to wait any longer.

“Buck’s doing OK, Eddie,” Maddie said reassuringly. He’s had a shower, he’s not coughing, and his appetite’s definitely not affected.”

“Well if he’s up to eating he must be feeling better,” Eddie said, a sigh of relief escaping. “How’s Chim doing?”

“They initially thought he might be concussed, but he passed all their tests and he says he feels OK. Bobby’s going to get Hen to check him over before he goes back out on shift again just to make sure.”

“Sounds like you’ve got your hands full over there.”

“Tell me about it! Luckily Albert’s here too, so that’s at least one of the four of us who can save us in the event of an emergency.”

“Five of you, you mean?” Eddie corrected her, and Maddie laughed at the other end of the line.

“Yeah, I guess it is five now.”

“Chim said the last scan went well.”

“Yeah, Mango is on track to being Papaya now, though it doesn’t have quite the same ring to it!” Maddie paused. “Buck’s got an Uber on the way now – said he wanted an early night – and after the shift you guys had I’m not surprised. I can go get him if you want to talk to him?”

“No, it’s fine, I can catch up with him tomorrow.”

They said their goodbyes and Eddie hung up, staring at the wall, lost in thought.

“What’s wrong, Dad? Is Buck OK?”

Christopher was watching him from the sofa, head tilted to one side. Buck did the same head tilt, and Eddie wondered which of them had learnt it from the other.

“Yeah, he’s OK, buddy,” he said, moving into the living room and crouching in front of Christopher to speak to him on a level. “We just had a scary day at work. Buck got caught in a fire. They got him out alright, but he had to go to the hospital to get checked over.”

Christopher’s expression was still serious, and Eddie worried that he’d overdone it and scared him by saying more than he should have.

“I’m sorry, Dad.”

Well he wasn’t expecting that.

“Why are you sorry, _mijo_?”

“Because you always say it’s scary when someone you love is in danger.”

Eddie’s heart thudded against his ribs, but he nodded a slow acknowledgement, because he did remember saying that.

“Buck was in danger, wasn’t he?” Chris was talking to him slowly, as if he were the parent.

“Yeah, he was.”

“And you love Buck, don’t you?”

Eddie sat down heavily on the coffee table facing Chris. Somehow the words landed differently coming from his son rather than Athena. Sat in their living room, away from the roar of the fire and the rush of fear that Buck’s luck might finally have run out, Eddie felt their resonance in his chest, in a way that panic hadn’t allowed him to just a few hours ago.

“Dad?” Chris prompted him out of his silence and into action.

“What do you say we take a trip, Chris?”

*

It was a gamble. But then he’d made this play twice before and it had worked. Third time was supposed to be the charm, right? Especially with his good luck charm right beside him.

Eddie lifted his hand and knocked, hoping that Buck hadn’t got home and passed out right away. He’d guessed that he would want a bit of time to reflect away from the hovering concern of his sister and the Hans. And his hunch paid off when he heard the locks clicking and the door swung open. For a split second, all the words Eddie had been carefully forming in his head on the drive earlier fell away at the sight of Buck standing before him, alive and whole. Luckily, his substitute was ready and waiting.

“Buck!”

“Hey buddy!”

Buck’s face lit up and he scooped Christopher up into a hug, stepping back into the apartment and spinning him around. Chris laughed gleefully and Buck stopped, still holding him close, and planted a kiss on top of his curls. Watching them from the doorway, arms folded, Eddie felt the dam in his chest break for good.

“Oh I missed you, kid,” Buck murmured, eyes closed as he squeezed Chris tight.

“I missed you too. I’ve been keeping a list of Buck Questions for you, and I brought you some new drawings. Oh, and can we play video games? Dad says we’re still taking a break from the internet at our house.”

Blinking from the onslaught of information, Buck’s eyes flickered automatically to Eddie, who gave a tiny nod.

“Of course we can,” Buck said. “You go right ahead and set up and get your drawings out for me, and I’ll be right there.” Chris motored into living room, beaming with joy at being reunited with his Buck, and Eddie watched him go fondly. When he looked back at Buck, he was biting his lip, watching Eddie uncertainly.

“What are you doing here?”

“Shamelessly playing the only card I have,” Eddie replied, nodding at Chris, now settling himself happily on the sofa and gathering the controllers. “I knew he was the only thing that would guarantee you’d let me through the door. Can we talk?”

Buck swallowed and nodded.

“Let me get him set up on a one-player game and I’ll join you in the kitchen. Grab a drink if you want one.”

Eddie busied himself making tea while Buck was busy with Christopher, steeling himself to be brave, maybe braver than he’d ever been before.

“Peppermint tea?” Buck questioned, appearing by his side with his eyebrow arched as Eddie passed him a mug.

“Well I wasn’t sure you’d want a beer, and it’s a little late for coffee.”

“Didn’t you say drinking this was like drinking dish soap?”

“Well I know you like it, and I’m trying to pick up on some of your healthy habits.”

Buck smiled and sank onto the bar stool next to him, blowing on the tea to cool it.

“So, how are you feeling?” Eddie asked, starting with a safe topic.

“Chest X-Ray came back clear. They want me to go back for a follow up in a week to make sure there’s no delayed lung injury, but if comes back OK then we’re all good.”

“Good.”

“Maddie said you’d called her.”

Ah. Eddie nodded and took a sip of his tea, forcing himself not to grimace at the taste and prove Buck right.

“Well I was worried,” he said carefully.

“So worried you brought Chris over here way past his bedtime to check up on me.”

And Buck did that very same head tilt he’d seen on Chris not half an hour ago. Right before Eddie had stuffed a bunch of Chris’s things into a backpack and hustled him out to the truck for the drive across town, on a whim, to see with his own eyes that Buck was OK and to fix this mess they’d gotten themselves into. And now he was sat beside him, where he’d wanted to be ever since they got back from Texas nearly two weeks ago, and all that was left was to find the right words.

Eddie drummed his fingers on the counter in time with his rapidly rising heartbeat and let out a breath.

“OK, cards on the table time.”

Buck stilled, watching him intently, and Eddie stared at the counter, gathering his thoughts.

“I hated every word I said to you that day in Ford Stockton. I watched your face crumple and felt like the worst guy on the planet. But I forced it out because I thought it was what you needed to hear.”

He looked up at Buck.

“I thought you freaked out that night in Austin because you didn’t feel the same way I did after all, or that the reality was too much for you. I kissed you first and I shouldn’t have presumed that that was what you wanted, I was afraid that I’d forced you into something that you weren’t ready for. And I have kept you at arm’s length ever since we came back from Texas because I was afraid of losing everything we have. You are my best friend, and Christopher’s best friend, and the thought of not having you in our lives kills me. I don’t think Chris or I would recover from that.”

Carefully, slowly, Eddie placed a gentle hand on Buck’s arm.

“This might be incredibly selfish of me, Buck, and if you’re not in the same place as me then I totally understand. But after tonight, when I thought for a while that we might actually lose you for good, I have to be honest about how I feel. Because nothing on this earth can be scarier than when I was standing outside that burning warehouse, knowing that you were trapped inside and that there was nothing I could do to get you out.”

“Hen told me that Bobby wouldn’t let you come in with them to find me.”

“He ordered me to stay outside.” Eddie grimaced. “I might have lost it a little back there.”

“I can’t imagine you losing your cool,” Buck said, shaking his head. “You’re always so calm. Not like me.”

“Not when it comes to you I’m not.”

Holding his gaze, Buck slowly rotated his arm under Eddie’s hand so their palms touched. Even that light contact sent a charge skittering across the surface of Eddie’s skin, and from the flash of surprise in Buck’s eyes he could see that he’d noticed it too. Buck opened his mouth to speak...

“Dad! Buck! Let’s play!”

Chris’s voice broke the moment, and Buck and Eddie jumped, letting go of each other and glancing back over their shoulders at Christopher.

“Rain check?” Eddie asked regretfully as they rose to their feet. Buck shook his head and grabbed Eddie’s arm before he could move away leaning in close and dropping his voice low and urgent.

“Albert’s hanging out at Maddie and Chim’s. I’ll ask him to drink so much he has to crash there tonight. Stay over? Both of you. I don’t intend to let you walk out that door again before I tell you everything.”

*

An hour and a half later, Christopher had trashed both Buck and Eddie at every video game Buck owned. Both too wired to concentrate, they spent the whole time stealing intense glances at each other over the top of Christopher’s head, until his yawns grew wide enough that Eddie decided enough was enough.

“OK, buddy, we’re staying over tonight,” he told him, rousing a sleepy cheer from Chris, “but that means you need to get ready for bed now.”

“Your box is in the bathroom ready for you,” Buck smiled. Once Christopher and Eddie’s visits to the apartment had become a regular fixture, Buck insisted on putting together some boxes of supplies for Chris. One drawer in the side table was full of colouring supplies and books, and Christopher’s spare clothes and pyjamas filled another. He had a spare toothbrush, toothpaste and other toiletries in the bathroom, and his artwork was pinned up on the wall next to Buck’s bed.

As Eddie marvelled silently at how seamlessly they had blended their lives without even realising, Christopher happily shuffled off to the bathroom, unaware of the loaded silence he left behind. With Chris no longer occupying the space between them on the couch, Eddie was suddenly very aware of how close they were sitting, and how easy it would be to stretch across that gap and kiss Buck again. He repressed the urge with difficulty, as Buck hooked one leg up onto the sofa and turned to face him.

“I’m really sorry Eddie. I should have told you right from the start that you did nothing wrong. The reason I freaked out that night in Austin wasn’t because of you. It was because of me.”

“It’s not you, it’s me? You’re really gonna use that?” Eddie teased, mirroring Buck’s pose, and hoping that his teasing might defuse the nerves he could see tightening Buck’s shoulders. And, for a moment, it worked. He saw Buck’s lips quirk into a smile, before he dropped his head back down so he was staring at his hands.

“It was all so sudden. I had been hiding these feelings from everyone, even myself, for years, and then all of a sudden TK, this stranger who’d barely known me for 24 hours, called me out on it. And I thought, if he could see it, could everyone else? Could you? Did you know already and you didn’t feel the same way, you just didn’t want to hurt my feelings?”

Eddie frowned in sympathy, but kept quiet and allowed Buck to keep talking.

“So I was forced to confront it head on, and I was still reconfiguring everything I thought I knew from the past two years, when I realised that you might feel the same way.” Buck laughed softly and looked up at the ceiling. “I have never been so happy or so scared in my whole life.” He looked at Eddie then, really looked at him, openly and unguardedly and full of love, and Eddie felt his heart thump against his chest, because it was suddenly so clear how Buck had felt all this time, and why had he never seen it?

“Because there is nothing I want more in this world than to be with you, to make this incredible friendship we have into something more. But I am SO scared of screwing this up. Of being the one who screws it up.”

“Buck, why would it be because of you…?” Eddie asked, leaning forward, his hand brushing against Buck’s leg.

“All done!” Chris said, bustling back into the room. Eddie closed his eyes and shook his head fractionally. His son was really doing a number on them tonight.

“Great, we’ll make up the bed for you right here,” he said, forcing cheerfulness into his voice.

“Can Buck read a bedtime story to me?”

“Of course I can, buddy. Which one do you want to hear?”

*

Eddie watched Buck reading to Christopher from the safety of the kitchen, where he wouldn’t be tempted to do something stupid like lean across and kiss Buck mid-story. It took all he had to stand still and not pace around impatiently while he waited for Chris to fall asleep so he and Buck could finish this conversation. Was the hope sparking in his chest completely misplaced? Or could this vision of domestic bliss happening before his eyes possibly be their future?

Finally, once he was happy that Christopher was asleep, Buck returned to the kitchen, and they sank slowly onto the bar stools facing each other again. Eddie passed Buck a glass of water, thinking he might need something to occupy his hands, and was amused to see how he instantly started fiddling with it, tapping the glass and staring into its crystalline depths.

“My therapy is working,” Buck said eventually. “But it’s taking a while to get to where I want to be, and right now I still feel a little bit...broken.” He swallowed. “I didn’t think I was ready to be in a relationship because I’m not 100% whole yet. And you deserve someone whole and together, because it’s not just you, it’s Christopher too, and you guys have been through so much already you don’t need someone else bringing all their baggage and issues with them. You need someone who makes your lives easer, not harder.”

Buck looked up at Eddie, his eyes shining with tears.

“I didn’t want to disappoint you by not being perfect. Because that’s what you deserve.”

Eddie closed his eyes.

“That’s why you panicked that night? Because you were afraid you’d screw things up by not being perfect? Buck, you never had to be a perfect version of you. You know I’m hardly perfect? I’m full of flaws and haunted by mistakes, like every other human being.”

“You’re perfect to me,” Buck said softly, and Eddie smiled at him as he opened his eyes.

“Right back at you. I want you to feel like the best version of yourself for your sake, but I’m already... _so_ gone for you.” Eddie laughed, realising just how true those words were as he said it. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Buck’s face light up under his words, and it gave him the strength to keep pushing forward.

“Look, Buck, I can’t promise anything, but I have a really good feeling about us. And you don’t need to meet some high ideal of perfection to be worthy of me. You could _never_ disappoint me. You have moved heaven and earth to be there for me and my son, almost every day from the moment we met. No one else has ever done so much for us and expected so little in return. You brought Carla to us, you learned all about CP and how it affects Chris and how he copes with it, and you never tell him he can’t do something, you treat him like every other kid.”

“He’s not like every other kid,” Buck interrupted, smiling fondly at Christopher. “He’s better.”

“And then you go and say something like that...” Eddie murmured, shaking his head fondly and leaning in closer. Buck’s eyes flickered down to Eddie’s lips and back up to his eyes.

“What can I say? You Diaz boys hold the monopoly on my heart. Always have. Always will.”

And, finally, Buck leaned in and pressed his lips to Eddie’s.

When they’d been kissing at this awkward angle, half-falling off the bar stools for long enough that Eddie felt his neck and shoulders beginning to seize up, he straightened up, hauling Buck with him and pushing him up against the counter. Each kiss was slow and deliberate and diffused with relief, like breaking the surface of the ocean when you thought you might drown, and finally being able to drag in lungfuls of precious oxygen. Buck cupped Eddie’s face gently with his hand, and Eddie tangled his hands in Buck’s hair, holding him close as they mapped the feel and taste of each other’s mouths inch by inch.

Eventually they broke apart for air, resting their foreheads against each other and trading dazed smiles. Summoning his common sense, Eddie sighed and nodded up towards the bedroom.

“Bedtime. To sleep only,” he added hastily, as Buck wiggled his eyebrows at him suggestively. “After the day you’ve had you need to get some rest.”

“You’re no fun,” Buck pouted. But, as they padded across the room side by side, he twined his fingers through Eddie’s, in a simple act of trust and affection that melted Eddie’s heart even further.

“You know you had me from Day One, right?” Eddie asked, nudging Buck’s shoulder as they climbed the stairs.

Buck’s eyebrows arched and he grinned.

“Day One? You sure about that? Because I was a total jackass to you on Day One.”

Eddie laughed.

“OK, maybe Day Two. _Definitely_ by the time you introduced me to Carla.”

“Oh, I see how it is,” Buck said in mock indignation. “You’re just with me because I can hook you up with the best home healthcare in LA.”

“It’s a definite perk,” Eddie shrugged, smirking at him. Buck’s hip check in response was more of a tackle. They tumbled onto and across the bed, until they ended up, panting, with Buck on top of Eddie.

“Now this is a view I like the look of,” Buck murmured, blue eyes blazing, dropping his head low enough that his lips whispered against Eddie’s.

“Don’t tempt me,” Eddie muttered. “Because my self-control is _this close_ ,” he held up his hand, thumb and forefinger practically touching, “to snapping right now. But we are not alone in this apartment.”

“Fair point. Well, as much as I would love to bring you completely undone...” Buck murmured, dropping his lips to Eddie’s collarbone, just visible above the neck of his Henley, “I can wait a night. Are you free tomorrow?”

“You don’t hang around,” Eddie said, struggling to regain control of his senses. “Who says I put out on the first date, Buckley?”

“Let’s just say I like my odds, Diaz.”

Buck nipped his neck and traced his tongue back up to Eddie’s jaw, making him gasp.

“Fine. You’re on. Now _behave_.”

“Where’s the fun in that?”

“It’ll be worth the wait. I promise.”

*

The following evening, the familiar sound of Buck’s Jeep pulling up on the driveway held new meaning, and Eddie’s stomach churned with excitement and anticipation. His gaze flickered to the mirror to check his reflection one last time.

“Are you nervous, Dad?”

Christopher was getting far too observant.

“Why would I be nervous, buddy?” Eddie said, aiming for casual and falling about a mile short.

“Because you’re going on a _date_ with _Buck,_ ” Chris said gleefully, enjoying seeing his father squirm. “I saw the two of you kissing last night at Buck’s house.”

“I can see we’re going to need to have a talk about pretending to be asleep so you can spy on people,” Eddie said, attempting to be stern. “And aren’t we doing this the wrong way round?” he added, gesturing between the two of them. “Shouldn’t I be the one getting to tease you about going on dates?”

Chris shrugged.

“Who says I’ll tell you when I go on dates?”

“Uh, you will if you want driving to them, or any money to buy movie tickets or whatever it is people do on first dates these days.”

Buck knocked at the door and Eddie crossed the room to meet him. He’d deliberately avoided looking out of the window before he opened the door, and his stomach lurched as he laid eyes on Buck, who was wearing a tight-fitting white t-shirt under a dark blue shirt and jeans and trainers. Eddie let his eyes travel across Buck’s body as want crept slowly through him, turning his blood to fire.

“Hey,” he said, hearing the gravelly catch in his voice as his nerves slowly melted away, replaced by a smile. Buck grinned back at him, eyes roaming appreciatively over Eddie’s black shirt and tight jeans in return.

“Hey.”

“Hi Eddie!”

Albert stepped out from behind Buck, a holdall slung over one shoulder, beaming, and broke the moment. Eddie was secretly a little bit grateful – it would have been far too easy to just stand on his doorstep and stare at Buck, especially now he actually could. The carefully constructed barriers he’d placed around his feelings fell for good around the time of the warehouse fire, but it still felt strange and new to be able to stare so openly and not worry that someone might see the emotions telegraphed so clearly across his face.

“Am I the best date or what? I even brought a free babysitter with me!” Buck crowed, ushering Albert inside and hurrying into the living room to give Christopher a quick hug.

“You forgot modest,” Eddie called after him, turning back to Albert. “You sure about this, Albert?”

“Absolutely Christopher and I are going to have a great time. And don’t worry, Buck has given me a detailed list of instructions about Christopher’s routine and requirements. I am fully prepared.” He lifted a sheaf of papers out of his holdall to prove it, and Eddie caught sight of a title typed in bold: _Babysitting Christopher Diaz: The Best Kid in the World_. It was so Buck, and he felt his heart swell with affection.

“Albert!” Chris called from the living room, and Albert hurried through to see him.

“What did you do?” Eddie asked Buck in a low voice as he returned to his side.

“Bribed him with a bottle of tequila and the promise to return the favour and clear out of the loft for the night if he wants to bring a date back sometime.” Buck arched a suggestive eyebrow at Eddie. “I don’t suppose you know somewhere I can stay if that happens?”

“I can offer you a bed...you’d have to share it though...”

“I’m sure I can handle that...”

Albert cleared his throat loudly, and Eddie and Buck realised they’d leaned right the way in while they were talking, standing so close together that there was hardly any space between them. They jumped apart and Eddie hurried into the living room to say goodbye to Christopher, as Buck blushed and shot Albert a warning look.

“So where are we going?” Eddie asked, once they’d made it out of the house and Buck was backing the Jeep out of the drive.

“I thought we could grab some dinner at that restaurant you like, Casa Sol? You know, the only Mexican restaurant in LA that your abuela says is nearly as good as homemade?”

“Sounds great.”

“And then I thought we could head back to mine...have some drinks and make the most of an empty apartment for the night…?”

“Sounds better.”

“I’d skip dinner and go straight there,” Buck grinned, “but you’re gonna need your strength if we’re not getting much sleep tonight.”

“Right back at you.”

*

“Do you remember Thomas and Mitchell?” Buck asked a couple of hours later. The Jeep was winding back through the streets of LA towards his apartment. Dinner had passed in a blur of laughter and talking, but they had rushed their food, hypersensitive of the line they were about to cross for good, a path they were starting down to a whole new future. And now they were sat in the Jeep, hands linked across the space between them, anticipation hanging heavy in the autumn air drifting through the open windows.

Eddie frowned and shook his head. Buck’s eyes had taken on a faraway look, his expression pensive.

“They were a couple in the Hollywood Hills who died side by side on their driveway.”

Recognition dawned and Eddie nodded slowly.

“That one really got to you,” he said quietly, and Buck nodded.

“I think it’s because they made such an impression on me. I have always wanted a love like they had. Their life together sounded idyllic, so I said, ‘I guess I can only hope to find something that good’. But Thomas said, ‘You don’t find it, son. You make it.’ And I never forgot what he said, but it took me a long time to figure out what he meant. I wasn’t sure how you could _make_ something good, you know? I assumed you had it or you didn’t, and if you didn’t you were in the wrong relationship.”

Buck turned at the traffic lights, and Eddie’s stomach swooped as he realised that they were only minutes from his apartment. Buck continued.

“But then I realised that that’s exactly what we did. We’ve been making something that good all along, and we never knew it for what it was.” He glanced sideways at Eddie and smiled. “And I have never felt luckier.”

“You and me both,” Eddie said, squeezing his hand. He hesitated, as Buck’s reflective mood rubbed off on him, and stared out of the windscreen at the traffic ahead, focusing on the brake lights of the car in front of them.

“You have no idea how hard I found it to get out of bed some days, when Shannon left and I was trying to navigate being a single dad, alone in a new city. I had no idea what I was doing.”

Buck shot him a concerned look, but Eddie shrugged it off and continued.

“It felt endless, like hiking up a mountain in the fog. I couldn’t see the summit, I had no idea if I was on the right track or one step away from going over the edge, and I could barely see my hands in front of my face, let alone the path ahead.”

He smiled at Buck.

“Then you came along, and you brought sunshine into our lives and burned away the fog. You are always so optimistic, just like Chris. And now I wake up each morning with hope, and that’s thanks to you.”

Buck’s eyes were shining with emotion again, and he blinked hard and stared straight ahead, trying to focus on the road ahead. Having struggled to find the right words for so long, Eddie rejoiced now in being able, for once, to say the right thing. He twisted in his seat so he could watch Buck’s face as he spoke, and continued.

“You get Chris in a way that I just can’t, no matter how hard I try, because you’re tuned into him on that special wavelength the two of you have. You’re always there for me to talk to when I feel like I’m not doing this right, which is _a lot_. You’re a young, single guy and yet you never mind spending your free time with me and my kid. You make me laugh and you keep me going. And I have never thanked you enough for that.”

“Actually, that’s where you’re wrong,” Buck interrupted, his voice thick with emotion as they pulled into the underground car park beneath his apartment. Coming to a stop, he met Eddie’s gaze. “I _was_ a single guy. Past tense.”

*

In the elevators, Buck leaned his head against Eddie’s shoulder.

“I missed you being here you know, when you left to go home to Chris. I mean, I was so happy that you could be back with him. And Chim was still here, so it shouldn’t have felt empty, but it did.”

“As great as Hen and Chim are, I think we needed some space by then,” Eddie said. “But you...I was surprised that we made it through three months living together and it didn’t feel like long enough. I missed you a lot when I went home. It didn’t feel like home anymore without you there.”

*

Back in the apartment, Buck crossed to the living room to his speakers, and Eddie frowned as the opening bars of a song floated around them.

“Weren’t they playing this…?”

“At the bar in Austin, when we were dancing out in the parking lot? Yes they were.”

Buck turned to Eddie and held out his hand.

“I thought we might be able to have a do-over of that night. You know, give it the happy ending it deserved.”

“Who’d have thought you were such a romantic?” Eddie teased, stepping up to him and taking his outstretched hand.

“You love it,” Buck grinned. “You’re lucky I didn’t have the time when I was running all my errands today to buy us cowboy hats. You know, really recreate the moment.”

“If we were really going to recreate the moment, we’re missing a lot of alcohol and a parking lot.”

“Just go with it and let me have my moment, Diaz.”

They slowly turned in circles around the living room, feet scuffing against the rug and legs tangling together, but neither one willing to step even a few inches apart.

“So did our trip to Texas help you realise that you have a thing for men in stetsons?”

“No,” Buck shook his head, his eyes not leaving Eddie’s. “Only you.” He leaned in so his lips brushed Eddie’s ear and he could whisper. “Because, for the record, you at the line dancing, wearing that stetson, might be the hottest thing I’ve ever fucking seen.”

“Well, for the record, _you_ are the hottest thing I’ve ever fucking seen, period,” Eddie murmured in response, trailing kisses from Buck’s jaw to his neck.

“You know Chim saw the last hickey you left me,” Buck told him.

“Well I’ll just have to make sure the next one is somewhere he can’t see.”

They’d drifted to a stop somewhere between the coffee table and the couch, and Eddie sank slowly onto the couch, pulling Buck down on top of him. Buck carefully bracketed himself around Eddie, trying to give him space. But it wasn’t enough. After so long of wanting and hoping, Eddie wasn’t willing to put even an inch of space between them if he could help it. Breaking their kiss for one second, he shook his head shortly and pulled Buck’s body flush against him. Their hands roamed desperately over and under clothes, trying to reach everywhere at once. Eddie could feel Buck’s chest rising and falling rapidly against his with every breath he took, and yet it still didn’t feel like enough. Buck must have felt the same way because he shook his head and rocked back to straddle Eddie, fumbling with the buttons on his shirt.

“Too many clothes,” Buck muttered in explanation, and Eddie laughed.

“But then you’re too far away for me to do this,” he said, and reached up to grab Buck’s hips, making them both groan as he dragged Buck down over him and ran his hands across his chest to the shirt lapels hanging loosely around them. Catching his meaning, Buck shrugged his shirt off and tossed it aside.

“This is going to take a while if you insist on being this close the whole time,” Buck told him teasingly.

“This isn’t anywhere near close enough for me yet,” Eddie told him, between messy kisses. “But, like you said, we’ve got all night.”

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!

“Are you freaking kidding me?” Buck hissed in frustration, head jerking up as he stared at the door incredulously. “Who even knows we’re here?”

“Ignore it,” Eddie murmured against his neck. “If it’s not important they’ll go away.”

He nipped Buck’s throat with his teeth and Buck moaned, arching his head back and pressing his hips into Eddie’s again.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!

“Buck? Albert? Are you in there?”

“ _Maddie_ ,” Buck hissed, untangling himself reluctantly from Eddie and getting to his feet with difficulty.

“Well then you’d better go and see if she’s OK,” Eddie said patiently, using the tone of voice he would normally use on Christopher. Buck pulled a face at him and, with a grouchy _hmmph_ , strode across the apartment and unlocked the door, opening it just enough that his sister could see him.

“Hey Maddie.”

“Buck! So there is someone in, I’ve been knocking for a couple of minutes. Is Albert in?”

“Nope, he’s out tonight. What do you need, can’t you just text him?”

“He’s meant to be giving me some of that coffee he uses. Chimney swears by his blend, but it just doesn’t taste the same, and if I’m only allowed one cup of coffee a day I want it to be a good one. Albert gets his from a special store in town and he said he’d set some aside for me.”

“Well, like I said, he’s out tonight, so maybe if you...”

“That’s fine, I’ll just come in and check the cupboards quickly. I’m sure I can find it.”

“Now’s not really a good time, Maddie,” Buck said, pushing back on the door and trying to keep the gap as small as possible so Maddie and the bump would have no chance of squeezing through. His sister’s eyes narrowed as she looked him up and down.

“Why are you all dressed up if you’re at home alone?” she asked suspiciously. Then her eyes widened. “Have you got a _date_ in there?” she hissed.

“Yes,” Buck said, deciding to stick to some of the truth and hope that it would be enough to convince her to leave without having to tell her just who his date was.

“So maybe you could come back tomorrow and we can chat then –”

“Wait, who is she? What’s she like?”

“It’s not a _she_ , and now is really _not a good time,_ ” Buck said in a low voice. But before he or Maddie could say anything else, he felt a gentle touch in the small of his back as Eddie moved to stand beside him. With an amused, reassuring glance at Buck, he took hold of the door and swung it open wide enough that Maddie could see inside.

“Hi Maddie.”

“Eddie!”

The look of shock on Maddie’s face was priceless. Her jaw fell open as her eyes darted back and forth between Buck and Eddie, taking in for the first time their smart clothes, now dishevelled, their ruffled hair, flushed faces and kiss-swollen lips. Buck cringed in the instant, toe-curling embarrassment of knowing that his sister knew exactly what they’d just been up to, but Eddie took it all in his stride.

“We’d love to have you come in, but this is kind of our first date.” He gave her one of his most charming smiles that flashed his canines, one he usually reserved for Christopher and Buck. “I’m a bit rusty, but I think that means it should just be me and Buck.”

Maddie was gawping, shock and surprise and joy dancing across her face. One hand rested on her bump, but for a moment Buck worried that she might actually launch herself across the threshold and throw the other arm around them in a hug.

“Oh my god, of course. I’m so sorry for interrupting. You two have a great night.”

Her eyes sparkled with tears, and she blinked furiously as she turned away.

“Are you crying?” Buck asked, bemused.

“It’s hormones,” Maddie sniffled. Shaking his head, Buck stepped out into the hall after her, wrapping her in a brief hug.

“Your hormones are sending you crazy,” he said, smiling as he kissing the top of her head. “We’re fine. Drive safe. I’ll get Albert to drop that coffee round to you tomorrow.”

Maddie pulled her head back to look up at her little brother.

“You know I’m just so _happy_ for you both, right?”

“Thanks, Mads.” Realising he could work this to his advantage, Buck added, “You know how you can show me how happy you are about us?”  
“I’m going, I’m going!”

Taking the hint at last, Maddie turned and hurried back down the corridor, beaming.

“Don’t you go telling Chimney yet!” Buck called after her.

“If you both turn up to work smelling of each other’s cologne and looking like you’ve just fallen out of bed he’s gonna figure it out without my help!” she called back over her shoulder.

“We haven’t even go that far yet – we keep being interrupted!” Buck yelled after her as she reached the elevator. Realising what he’d said, he winced and turned to see Eddie watching from just inside the door to his apartment, arms folded, leaning casually against the counter, fighting to hold in a laugh.

“Maybe I shouldn’t have yelled that down my hallway,” Buck admitted sheepishly, heading back inside and shutting the door quickly before any of his neighbours could come out and weigh in on his date. “Why do I get the feeling that trying to keep this a secret for even a day is gonna be impossible?”

“Because between you and Chimney it’ll be a race to see who can tell everyone first,” Eddie grinned.

“So sue me. I’m happy, and I don’t care who else knows it,” Buck smiled.

“Glad to hear it. Happiness looks good on you,” Eddie told him, his expression soft. Buck ducked his head, smiling shyly. He wasn’t used to this lightness in his chest, not used to an almost-permanent smile that made his whole face ache. For something to do, he gathered their empty bottles from the counter and dumped them in the sink.

“Do you want another beer?” he asked.

“No.”

The seriousness of Eddie’s tone got Buck’s attention, and his stomach lurched with anticipation when he looked up. Because that intense, burning gaze from the night of the line dancing was back, and Eddie was crossing the room slowly towards him, eyes full of want and longing. Buck wondered how he’d never noticed it before.

“I want to lock that door, and block out the rest of the world for as long as we can,” Eddie said, his voice low and gravelly, his Spanish inflections coming out in way that turned Buck’s insides to liquid fire.

“You wanna go for the title?” he asked, his voice a little breathless.

“I could still take you,” Eddie replied, and Buck felt a surge of joy that he’d picked up on the reference, that he remembered that moment too and the words they’d used. It was just one of so many moments in the last few years where they’d nearly crossed the line, but this one had burned itself into Buck’s brain and visited him in his dreams. Perhaps it was the realisation that, when he looked at Eddie that night, there was nothing platonic in the tone of his voice, his gaze, his movements. His body had reacted ahead of his brain, and it was only thinking back on it that he realised what that meant.

“You think so?” Buck asked, holding his gaze as Eddie stopped just short of him.

“I know.”

“Well you’d better get over here and prove it,” Buck said, his voice rough with want.

He wasn’t sure which one of them moved first, but suddenly they both were, and bodies and lips collided in the middle of the kitchen. They backed into cabinets and up against counters, stumbling in the general direction of the stairs to the bedroom. Buck unbuttoned Eddie’s shirt and pushed it off his shoulders, staring with open adoration at Eddie’s bare chest and toned arms, his hands following the same rough path as his eyes across sculpted planes of muscle. Eddie untucked Buck’s t-shirt from his jeans, fingers lingering beneath the waistband long enough to leave trails of fire in his wake, and fumbled for Buck’s belt buckle.

They backed into the wall next to the stairs and Buck thrust his leg between Eddie’s, pressing his hips against him as Eddie lifted Buck’s t-shirt up over his head, threw it to the floor and grabbed his ass. Between moans and kisses, they unbuckled belts and unbuttoned jeans, grinding desperately against each other.

“God I want you so much,” Buck whispered breathlessly.

“Upstairs, _now_ ,” Eddie growled in reply.

By the time they reached the top of the stairs, they’d left every item of clothing behind. For a moment, they both halted and stared at each other.

“Fuck,” Eddie said, eyes roaming every inch of Buck’s body with such heat in his gaze that Buck could have sworn he felt it like a physical touch. “You’re incredible.”

“You should see yourself,” Buck said, closing the gap between them and kissing him again, hands sliding down Eddie’s bare hips. “Like an actual _god_.”

Eddie laughed, and then they were tumbling onto the bed again and Eddie was _so hard_ against him, and the feeling of his firm body flush against Buck’s sent a fire rushing through his blood. As Eddie slowly kissed his way down Buck’s chest, pressing his lips to each of Buck’s tattoos, Buck rolled them so now he hovered over Eddie, bracing himself on one arm, the other hand reaching for Eddie’s cock, moving in slow, firm strokes to take him apart. Buck watched with satisfaction as Eddie shuddered, eyes rolling back into his head.

“ _Dios mio, Buck_ ,” Eddie whispered, the words halfway between a moan and a prayer as Buck gradually picked up speed and pressure.

“You have no idea how long I’ve been wanting to do this,” Buck whispered to him, revelling in the feeling of Eddie hard and wanting beneath him.

“Want to bet?”

Drawing on the extreme self-control that he didn’t know – but was hardly surprised – Eddie possessed – Buck felt Eddie’s hips move beneath him, rolling him onto his back again and pinning him in place. Eddie stared down at him, eyes dark with longing.

“I’ve been wanting this for nearly two years now. You’ve gotta slow this down or I’m not gonna last. And I _really_ want to make this last,” he said emphatically.

“Sex or us?” Buck teased, then closed his eyes, mentally kicking himself for joking at a time like this. Eddie saw the funny side, his expression softening as he smiled fondly down at him.

“Both. Now shut up and stay still.”

Keeping Buck’s wrists pinned to the bed, Eddie slowly kissed his way down his body, following the crease of his hips around to his inner thigh, where he ran his tongue up the inside of Buck’s leg, making him gasp. When he felt Eddie’s breath, hot against his rigid cock, Buck was nearly gone there and then. He was already moaning as Eddie pressed firm kisses along the length of his cock, flicking his tongue against the head as he tilted his head up to meet Buck’s gaze. Eyes locked on Buck, Eddie slowly took the full length of Buck’s cock into his mouth, and Buck swore and trembled beneath him.

*

Like honey and wildfire, hot and slow and bright, their firm, warm bodies were burning up together between the sheets, limbs tangled and slick with sweat. As long as he lived, Buck didn’t think he would ever forget this night. Every thrust and gasp and kiss and touch imprinted itself on his skin, seared into his very soul. He didn’t think he’d _ever_ known sex could be this good, and he’d had plenty of practice.

But here, now, with _Eddie_ , every fibre of his being had come undone, had broken and fused again with Eddie so they were more one person now than two. And from the looks of wonder he kept catching from Eddie when their eyes met, the way his body responded to Buck’s touch, he was pretty sure he was feeling the same way.

“ _Te amo,_ ” Eddie gasped, his head flung back, body shuddering against and inside Buck’s. Shaking himself, Buck buried his face in Eddie’s neck, murmuring a silent response into his skin.

 _I love you too_.

Hours later, after they’d finally fallen into an exhausted sleep, Buck awoke in a haze of aching muscles and sheer, overflowing joy. The moon had reached the windows of his apartment now, throwing silver shards of light across the bed and illuminating Eddie’s skin in a luminescent glow that Buck wanted to remember forever.

“ _Eres al amor de mi vida,_ ” he whispered softly, tracing his fingers lightly along Eddie’s arm, testing the words aloud for the first time.

“You really were learning Spanish,” Eddie murmured sleepily, and Buck started. He hadn’t realised he was still awake.

“Yeah,” he said shyly.

“I imagine that wasn’t to impress my abuela.” Eddie opened his eyes, smiling at Buck. “Not unless _she’s_ the love of your life.”

“No. That one was for you.”

Eddie leaned in to kiss him, long and slow and gentle.

“ _E_ _res mi sol, mi luz de las estrellas y el latido de mi corazón,_ ” he whispered against Buck’s lips.

“What does that mean? Because it sounded sexy as hell.”

“Keep practising your Spanish and you’ll find out.”

*

“Good _morning_ , Firefighter Diaz!”

Buck’s cheerful voice rang out around the fire house the following day as he strutted out of the locker rooms, and Eddie shook his head and grinned as he stowed the axe he’d just sharpened in the side of the truck. After an early start to pick up Albert and Christopher, both of whom gave them a knowing look and a smirk a mile wide, Buck and Eddie had headed into work separately. They’d already decided that Buck would be staying over Casa Diaz, as he now insisted on calling it, tonight, but Eddie smiled to himself as he realised that he’d missed him just in the hour or so they’d been apart that morning.

“Someone’s cheerful today, _Firefighter Buckley_.”

“Well I should be. Had a hot date last night.”

Buck stopped next to him, dropping his voice to a conspiratorially low tone.

“Hottest guy I’ve ever met, washboard abs, great conversation, best sex I’ve ever had, _huge_...smile.”

Eddie rolled his eyes, fighting the urge to drag him off into a storage cupboard there and then, inappropriate conduct in the workplace be damned.

“I’m not supposed to tell anyone about it,” Buck said innocently, reaching up for the side panel, “we’re keeping it a secret for now, but I guess as you and I are _just friends_ ,” he slammed it shut and turned to face Eddie with a wide grin, “then where’s the harm in telling you about it?”

Eddie shook his head again and folded his arms, smiling.

“If you keep this up, they’re gonna know by lunchtime.”

“Well I hope you’re ready for people to know, because I’m too happy to keep a lid on this.”

“Oh I am. I just think you’re going about this all wrong. If you want to tell people, we ought to do it properly.”

Before Buck could say anything else, Eddie stepped up against him, sliding one arm around Buck’s waist and reaching up with the other to pull Buck’s head down to his in a kiss, right there in front of their whole fire house.

This wasn’t a kiss fuelled by alcohol and desperate want. This kiss was sunshine and joy and possibilities. This was a kiss where they could both feel the other’s lips curving into a smile beneath theirs, where they broke apart for air just to stare at each other in disbelief that this was their reality now, that all those years of wanting and pining and refusing to hope had finally led them here.

Jumping down from the restocked ambulance, Chimney stopped abruptly and Hen ran into his back as she followed.

“Oof. Chim, what the…?”

Her words trailed off as Chimney pointed wordlessly to Buck and Eddie, kissing up against the side of the fire truck, completely lost in their own world.

“ _Finally,_ ” Chimney sighed.

“Seems we get wildfires in LA too,” Hen laughed. “Because I think they’re about to self-combust...”

“Eww, get a room!” Chimney yelled at them, breaking Buck and Eddie out of their trance. As they looked round and caught sight of their audience, Buck beamed proudly and Eddie ducked his head, grinning. Showing off now, Buck looked round at his boyfriend, tilted his chin up with his fingertips and bent to capture his lips once more. Eddie leaned into him, smiling joyfully, and Hen and Chim whooped and hollered so loudly that it drew Bobby out from his office.

*

_Text conversation between Chimney Han, Henrietta Wilson, Bobby Nash, Athena Grant, Eddie Diaz and Evan Buckley_

**Chimney Han:** It’s getting hot in heerrre 🔥🔥

So take off all your clo-

 **Hen Wilson:** CHIM!

We’ve talked about this

 **Chimney Han:** Sorry

It’s been stuck in my head for days now...

Ever since our new fire house romance ignited 🔥👨‍❤️‍💋‍👨🔥

Better get those ‘Buckley-Diaz’ turnouts ordered now, Cap!

 **Eddie Diaz:** Better get your ass in gear, Chim, or we might beat you and Maddie to it

 **Buck** **Buckley** **:** 😍🥰

 **Hen Wilson:** 🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄

 **Chimney Han:** 🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄

 **Buck** **Buckley:** So when exactly _are_ you planning to make an honest woman of my sister, Chim? 💍👰💕

 **Chimney Han:** 😨🤐🏃‍♂️

...So who won the pool Hen?

 **Hen Wilson:** 🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄

*Cough* _Commitment-phobe_ *cough*

 **Chimney Han:** I am not a commitment-phobe, I am an ‘I-don’t-wan’t-to-mess-this-up-phobe’

 **Eddie Diaz:** You had a pool going?

 **Hen Wilson:** We had a pool up and running about 5 mins after Buck saw you for the first time across the fire house and said _‘Who the hell is that?’_ with a face that said he either wanted to punch you or jump your bones...

 **Buck Buckley:** 😳

Wow...so I really wasn’t subtle?

 **Bobby Nash:** No.

 **Chimney Han:** NO

 **Hen Wilson:** _No_

 **Eddie Diaz:** I didn’t think you did subtle

 **Buck** **Buckley** **:** Took _you_ long enough to catch on

 **Eddie** **Diaz** **:** Right back at you

 **Buck** **Buckley** **:** How was I supposed to know how you felt?

 **Eddie** **Diaz** **:** You’re right, you were only my best friend, raising my kid with me, spending pretty much every hour of every day with me...how didn’t you see the signs?

 **Buck Buckley:** I know you intended that to be sarcasm, but it doesn’t work in texts and it just makes you look dumb

And you’re sitting right next to me so you may as well have said it out loud – would have been funnier that way... 😝

 **Eddie Diaz:** Someone’s sleeping on the sofa tonight…

 **Buck Buckley:** 😮

 **Bobby Nash:** And I thought you two were a handful when you weren’t together. I’ve got my work cut out now.

 **Chimney Han:** The department’s file on Buck just doubled in size 🤣

And now I really want to make more jokes about other things doubling in size…

I hate my brain… 🤦‍♂️

 **Hen Wilson:** So do we… 😒

 **Eddie Diaz:** …

 **Buck Buckley:** …

So you guys really all knew before us?

Why didn’t anyone say anything?!

 **Chimney Han:** I wanted to. Hen wouldn’t let me

 **Hen Wilson:** Because there’s no subtle way to drop ‘Have you ever considered the fact that you might be bi, because I think you’re in love with your best friend?’ into a conversation...

You two were the only ones in LA who _didn’t_ know though

 **Chimney Han:** ‘Clueless’ and ‘oblivious’ are the words that spring to mind…

 **Hen Wilson:** There’s about 20 people in the pool

We’ve even got entries from other fire houses – Lena Bosko was _very_ close to winning this one – and the LAPD

 **Buck** **Buckley** **:** 😮

How could we have been that dumb?

 **Bobby Nash** **:** You’re not dumb. I think you both just had a hard time seeing what was right in front of you.

 **Chimney Han:** I think _I_ knew how Buck felt round about the time he tried to claw through 30 feet of earth by hand to rescue Eddie from the well collapse, screaming his name hysterically

 **Buck** **Buckley** **:** 😒

 **Chimney Han:** Too soon?

He didn’t die, it’s fine!

 **Hen Wilson:** I knew when they had that _very_ public fight in the grocery store over the lawsuit and didn’t notice an actual car crash happening behind them at the same time

 **Buck** **Buckley** **:** 😒

 **Hen Wilson:** Too soon?

 **Bobby Nash:** I knew Eddie felt the same way around the time of the train car derailment.

 **Chimney Han:** Ooh, was it the way he spat Abby’s name out like it was poison? Or the way he spent the rest of the night stomping around in Buck’s shadow so she couldn’t get him alone?

 **Eddie Diaz:** 😳

 **Buck** **Buckley** **:** Aww, who knew you were the jealous type? 😘

 **Chimney Han:** Clearly not you, or we’d have spared ourselves the last 6 months of pining… 🙄

 **Bobby Nash:** So who did win the pool?

 **Eddie Diaz:** Wait, did you bet on this too, Cap? Isn’t that against the rules or something?

 **Bobby Nash:** Yes Eddie, that would be highly unprofessional of me. Almost as unprofessional as sneaking off to the roof in the middle of a shift to make out with your boyfriend.

 **Eddie Diaz:** 😳

 **Buck** **Buckley** **:** Oops

 **Eddie Diaz:** Won’t happen again, Cap

 **Buck** **Buckley** **:** Speak for yourself. I make no promises… 😏

Hey, that elbow to the ribs hurt!

 **Eddie Diaz:** I’ll make it up to you later

 **Buck** **Buckley** **:** 😉

Holding you to that…

 **Eddie Diaz:** So who won the pool Hen?

 **Hen Wilson:** We had a late entry a few days ago

And, as usual, her instincts were spot on

 **Athena Grant:** 🙋‍♀️

That would be me.

 **Chimney Han:** Swooping in and snatching victory from my hands at the last minute like a boss! 👏

 **Bobby Nash:** I knew there was a reason I married you, Sgt. Grant. 😊

 **Hen Wilson:** Formidable 🙌

 **Eddie Diaz:** I should have known my confession would be used against me… 🤦‍♂️

 **Athena Grant:** 💁‍♀️

I’ve been doing this job for 30 years. I wouldn’t call it inside information so much as police instincts…

As soon as I knew Buck was going to be OK, I was pretty sure that warehouse fire would be the kick up the ass you needed.

 **Eddie Diaz:** 👏

 **Athena Grant:** And, for what it’s worth, it’s about damn time. I’ve been waiting for this moment since that very non-platonic hug at that party we held when Buck re-qualified last year...

Now, if you’ll excuse us, my husband and I have a date night to get ready for off the back of my pool winnings. Have a good evening y’all.

 **Bobby Nash:** Goodnight guys.

 **Eddie Diaz:** We’d better go too. Carla’s dropping Chris off soon and we need to get dinner ready 👋

 **Buck Buckley:** 😊 _We_ need to go...I like the sound of that 🥰

Peace out, fire fam ✌️

 **Chimney Han:** Peace out?

 **Hen Wilson:** Let it go. He’s happy. He’s finally home 😊❤️

 **Chimney Han:** 😊

Guess he’d better all the practice with kids he can now – when Mango arrives we’re going to have him on a babysitting rota with Albert to look after her

 **Hen Wilson:** 😮

🥭’s a girl?!

 **Chimney Han:** 🤦‍♂️ Guess my days of successfully keeping secrets are officially over...

**Author's Note:**

> If I thought Chapter 3 of What Happens In Texas nearly broke me, this might have actually done it. I hope you enjoyed reading! 
> 
> Translations:
> 
> Dios mio – my God  
> Te amo – I love you  
> Eres al amor de mi vida – you are the love of my life  
> Eres mi sol, mi luz de las estrellas y el latido de mi corazón – You are my sunshine, my starlight and the beat of my heart
> 
> [Disclaimer: I'm learning Spanish but I did get these off Google, so please flag errors for correction!]


End file.
